i was going to post this yesterday but lj wasn't working when i needed it
*BREAKING NEWS* - I have a GA position for next semester (and she's looking for someone to commit to longer term so that's great!). i talk more about it down lower and i wrote that part before i found out that i got it. :-) I start on August 13th! :-D
last tuesday we had dinner and went to a movie over at the friendly center. we went to mimi's cafe. i had been there before for a luncheon with work folks and i thought curtis would enjoy it. i got the same awesome sandwich i got before it was real turkey with bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, and pesto on ciabata bread. and i am not kidding that it was like half a loaf of ciabata. i only ate half of it and took the other half home to eat for lunch the next day. yum! (i did the same thing last time i got it). then we went and saw 1408 and i finally got to see a good creepy movie (see below for review but it does contain a bit of a spoiler).
i had another interview for a ga position on friday with the center for youth, family, and community partnerships which is part of uncg but it's not on campus. it was for working with a group of people that have a grant to work with substance abuse. basically they are working with families and agencies to help everyone navigate the mental health system and to streamline the process. they are trying to get agencies to train their employees better and to implement evidence-based practices. they are hoping to one day have a universal integrated system where youth can get mental health and substance abuse treatment together...as much as those two things are intertwined there really is a lack of treatment facilities that can effectively deal with both of them. just because someone is in a locked facility for mental health may help in the short-term to control the substance abuse because the client is not exposed to the drugs but that won't help them deal with their problem once they are exposed to drugs and that culture and behavior when they finish their mental health treatment. yea i could probably talk forever about it. i think the interview went well and at the end we just talked about books and harry potter and community service and everything and we probably could have talked for a long time. i find out sometime this week about the position.
we went shopping on friday so i could get a new dress for the wedding the weekend after next. i've won the same dress to the last two weddings and even though the only person that's the same over the three weddings is curtis i figured it was time for a new dress. i tried two dresses on at jc penny's and loved both of them but one was more dressy for a wedding so i bought that one. but i couldnt stop thinking about how cool the other dress was and how nice it looked so i ended up going back last night and buying it too.
on sunday we went to charlotte for nightbeat which is a dci (drum corps international) show. i need an "i'm with the band (dork)" t-shirt. i was afraid it was going to be cancelled because it was downpouring our way there and still raining a bit when we actually got there. we were planning on tailgating but because of the weather we ate at brixx instead. neither of us could decide whether to get a sandwich or a pizza so we got one of each and then shared. on the way back we passed through a frickin' accident alley, including one that happened in front of us (we saw it happen but luckily we were far enough back and going slowly enough that we weren't involved). But we didn't see enough to be witnesses (it was dark). There were about three accidents in a less than a mile of road.
and now for the randomness: lately i've been dreaming about animals. so far i've dreamt about a baby hippo (though it must have been a pygmy) and a brown rabbit (that was somehow related to harry potter).
i was listening to the michael jackson #1's cd a lot last week and it always reminds me of fye. we used to play it all the time and nazli finally got fed up and was like "how can i make you stop playing this cd???" and i said give it to me and she did. dirty diana reminds me of rinaldy because he always sang it. i love the way you make me feel. and black or white used to be one of my favorite songs when i was younger (along with the longest time by billy joel).
the UNCG bookstore is silly because I went there on Monday to copy down ISBN numbers (I found them all online but I wanted to doublecheck that they were the right books) but you weren't allowed to browse through the books. they would just pick them out if you wanted to buy them. so i asked the girl to see if they had used copies of any of them in stock and she found some. there were two that i couldnt really find any cheaper online so i picked them out to buy (one was the only used copy they had and it's in perfect condition except for library stamps on the sides). but when i got to the register the other one was $12 more expensive then the price that i had on a printout from friday. they said that they just got the book that day and the publisher was charging them more. well i checked yesterday and they still have the wrong price on the website. so i decided not to get that book because i could save that $12 buying it online and it's only a recommended text. well now i found out that one of the staff here that went through the counseling program has the book and she's going to let me borrow it.
We only got to watch two movies last week, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I had already seen it) and Ghostrider. But since I'm smooshing two updates into one there will also be reviews for The Magdalene Sisters (SPOILER ALERT - originally I wasn't going to go in depth about this movie but once I started writing about it, I couldn't help it), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and 1408 (SPOILER ALERT IN THIS REVIEW - that's why it'll be at the very end). We were planning on seeing Transformers this weekend but it didn't work out.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 - Lucky Charlie Bucket's one of five golden-ticket holders treated to a tour of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in Tim Burton's reimagining. Along with the other four (rather naughty) contest winners, good-hearted Charlie ( Freddie Highmore) visits the factory and encounters Oompa Loompas, eats wonderful candy creations and meets the fascinating Wonka ( Johnny Depp) himself. From the time he enters the factory, Charlie's life changes forever.
I had seen it before but Curtis hadn't, plus I wanted to see if I liked it better the second time. The answer is no. It was still really creepy and weird. It was cool looking I'll give them that. But if this version had been around when I was a kid I don't think I would have liked it as much as I liked the other one.
Ghostrider 2007 - In this hell-on-wheels thriller, Nicolas Cage stars as Johnny Blaze, a badass stunt cyclist who makes a Faustian bargain with the sinister Mephisto (Peter Fonda) to save a loved one. Years later, he offers Johnny the chance to reclaim his soul by vanquishing Blackheart (Wes Bentley) -- Mephisto's archenemy and son, who's scheming to depose his pop. The supporting cast includes Eva Mendes, Sam Elliott and Donal Logue.
It wasn't as horrible as I had heard people say it was. There were a few points where it seemed like they were trying to add some scary movie scenes that just came off as really dumb. And I guess people who have flaming skulls for heads can't really have an extended vocabulary. He was pretty badass even though I usually think Nicholas Cage is pretty ho-hum as far as acting is concerned.
The Magdalene Sisters 2002 - This unflinching drama charts several years in the young lives of four "fallen women" who were rejected by their families and abandoned to the mercy of the Catholic Church in 1960s Ireland. While women's liberation sweeps the globe, these women are stripped of their liberty and dignity and condemned to indefinite servitude in The Magdalene Laundries, so that they may atone for their "sins."
Very disturbing, very depressing movie. This one goes on the list of sad depressing movies that I never want to watch again (along with Requiem for a Dream, Grave of the Fireflies, and Boys Don't Cry). The movie is based on true accounts of what went on in the "Magdalene Laundries." The last one was still open until 1996. They were started with the express goal of rehabilitating prostitutes according to the legend(?)/story(?) of Mary Magdalene. Then they disintegrated into working with any kind of "fallen" woman as they called them. In the movie there were four of them. Two of them had children out of wedlock (and one of them is low functioning), one was raped by her cousin, and one was "pretty" and flirted with some boys and they were all considered to have sinned and were taken from their families (or the orphanage in the case of the pretty girl) and sent to the laundry. They were treated horribly, disrespected, their children were taken away from them, one got to get a glimpse of her son through the gates every once in a while. *SPOILER ALERT* There is an appalling scene in the movie which starts out funny and then ends disgusting. One of the four girls realizes that one of the priests is engaging in sexual activities with one of the girls (the low-functioning girl, her name is Crispina)...so she puts something itchy in his laundry (it's either poison ivy or nettles, something like that). The next day they march through the streets of town and are in the middle of an outdoor sermon when you see the priest start getting itchy. He ends up stripping completely naked and yelling and dancing around like a mad man and you can see all the red itchy welts all over him. For a second you are like "yes! serves you right!" And then Crispina turns around to face the crowd (mostly other girls and nuns) and she pulls up her robe and you see all the red welts all over the inside of her legs. And she starts crying and saying it really hurts and she doesn't know why it's there and the nuns just tell her to be quiet. So she turns around and yells "You are not a man of God!" a lot (27 times apparently) and the scene ends. Soon after they commit Crispina to a Mental Hospital in order to cover up the priest's abuses. ugh.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 2006 - Lifelong friends and national idols Ricky Bobby ( Will Ferrell) and Cal Naughton Jr. ( John C. Reilly) have earned their NASCAR stripes with their uncanny knack of finishing races in the first and second slots, respectively. But when rival French driver Jean Girard ( Sacha Baron Cohen) coasts onto the track to challenge the duo, they'll have to floor it to retain their status as top dogs.
I wasn't really paying attention because I wasn't all that interested in seeing it. What I actually saw wasn't really that funny.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 - In the third and final installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker ( Hayden Christensen) and Padmé Amidala ( Natalie Portman) are married, and General Grievous leads the Confederacy in a battle against the Republic. Darth Sidious ( Ian McDiarmid) lures war-weary Anakin to the dark side, forcing Obi-Wan ( Ewan McGregor) to fight against his former pupil. Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits also star.
I finally got around to seeing this movie. I have to say it's my favorite out of the new trilogy but I'm still partial to the original movies. It's just weird to me that these are "prequels" but because of the advances of special effects technology the Jedi can have much more badass fighting skills. Then you go to the next episode and the Jedi aren't as badass because the movie was made so long ago. Luke Skywalker is still my favorite character. Oh! and Ewoks! I almost forgot about them.
*SPOILER ALERT*
1408 2007 - No one can explain the strange goings-on in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel. In this thriller based on a Stephen King story, writer and paranormal debunker Mike Enslin ( John Cusack) is determined to demystify the ghostly events, even though a hotel clerk ( Samuel L. Jackson ) begs him to rethink his plans. Mike needs to write another book soon, and room 1408 may be his ticket to the top of the best-seller list. But will he survive even one night?
I really enjoyed this one. I could have tolerated more scares but it had a good amount. I like creepy/scary movies that make you think about it instead of just having homicidal maniacs killing people for no reason. So the spoiler comment is that somewhere in the middle it seemed that the whole thing was a dream and I was getting really pissed...they let the "it's all a dream" thing go on for just a second longer than most before they went on with the movie.
last tuesday we had dinner and went to a movie over at the friendly center. we went to mimi's cafe. i had been there before for a luncheon with work folks and i thought curtis would enjoy it. i got the same awesome sandwich i got before it was real turkey with bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, and pesto on ciabata bread. and i am not kidding that it was like half a loaf of ciabata. i only ate half of it and took the other half home to eat for lunch the next day. yum! (i did the same thing last time i got it). then we went and saw 1408 and i finally got to see a good creepy movie (see below for review but it does contain a bit of a spoiler).
i had another interview for a ga position on friday with the center for youth, family, and community partnerships which is part of uncg but it's not on campus. it was for working with a group of people that have a grant to work with substance abuse. basically they are working with families and agencies to help everyone navigate the mental health system and to streamline the process. they are trying to get agencies to train their employees better and to implement evidence-based practices. they are hoping to one day have a universal integrated system where youth can get mental health and substance abuse treatment together...as much as those two things are intertwined there really is a lack of treatment facilities that can effectively deal with both of them. just because someone is in a locked facility for mental health may help in the short-term to control the substance abuse because the client is not exposed to the drugs but that won't help them deal with their problem once they are exposed to drugs and that culture and behavior when they finish their mental health treatment. yea i could probably talk forever about it. i think the interview went well and at the end we just talked about books and harry potter and community service and everything and we probably could have talked for a long time. i find out sometime this week about the position.
we went shopping on friday so i could get a new dress for the wedding the weekend after next. i've won the same dress to the last two weddings and even though the only person that's the same over the three weddings is curtis i figured it was time for a new dress. i tried two dresses on at jc penny's and loved both of them but one was more dressy for a wedding so i bought that one. but i couldnt stop thinking about how cool the other dress was and how nice it looked so i ended up going back last night and buying it too.
on sunday we went to charlotte for nightbeat which is a dci (drum corps international) show. i need an "i'm with the band (dork)" t-shirt. i was afraid it was going to be cancelled because it was downpouring our way there and still raining a bit when we actually got there. we were planning on tailgating but because of the weather we ate at brixx instead. neither of us could decide whether to get a sandwich or a pizza so we got one of each and then shared. on the way back we passed through a frickin' accident alley, including one that happened in front of us (we saw it happen but luckily we were far enough back and going slowly enough that we weren't involved). But we didn't see enough to be witnesses (it was dark). There were about three accidents in a less than a mile of road.
and now for the randomness: lately i've been dreaming about animals. so far i've dreamt about a baby hippo (though it must have been a pygmy) and a brown rabbit (that was somehow related to harry potter).
i was listening to the michael jackson #1's cd a lot last week and it always reminds me of fye. we used to play it all the time and nazli finally got fed up and was like "how can i make you stop playing this cd???" and i said give it to me and she did. dirty diana reminds me of rinaldy because he always sang it. i love the way you make me feel. and black or white used to be one of my favorite songs when i was younger (along with the longest time by billy joel).
the UNCG bookstore is silly because I went there on Monday to copy down ISBN numbers (I found them all online but I wanted to doublecheck that they were the right books) but you weren't allowed to browse through the books. they would just pick them out if you wanted to buy them. so i asked the girl to see if they had used copies of any of them in stock and she found some. there were two that i couldnt really find any cheaper online so i picked them out to buy (one was the only used copy they had and it's in perfect condition except for library stamps on the sides). but when i got to the register the other one was $12 more expensive then the price that i had on a printout from friday. they said that they just got the book that day and the publisher was charging them more. well i checked yesterday and they still have the wrong price on the website. so i decided not to get that book because i could save that $12 buying it online and it's only a recommended text. well now i found out that one of the staff here that went through the counseling program has the book and she's going to let me borrow it.
We only got to watch two movies last week, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I had already seen it) and Ghostrider. But since I'm smooshing two updates into one there will also be reviews for The Magdalene Sisters (SPOILER ALERT - originally I wasn't going to go in depth about this movie but once I started writing about it, I couldn't help it), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and 1408 (SPOILER ALERT IN THIS REVIEW - that's why it'll be at the very end). We were planning on seeing Transformers this weekend but it didn't work out.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 - Lucky Charlie Bucket's one of five golden-ticket holders treated to a tour of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in Tim Burton's reimagining. Along with the other four (rather naughty) contest winners, good-hearted Charlie ( Freddie Highmore) visits the factory and encounters Oompa Loompas, eats wonderful candy creations and meets the fascinating Wonka ( Johnny Depp) himself. From the time he enters the factory, Charlie's life changes forever.
I had seen it before but Curtis hadn't, plus I wanted to see if I liked it better the second time. The answer is no. It was still really creepy and weird. It was cool looking I'll give them that. But if this version had been around when I was a kid I don't think I would have liked it as much as I liked the other one.
Ghostrider 2007 - In this hell-on-wheels thriller, Nicolas Cage stars as Johnny Blaze, a badass stunt cyclist who makes a Faustian bargain with the sinister Mephisto (Peter Fonda) to save a loved one. Years later, he offers Johnny the chance to reclaim his soul by vanquishing Blackheart (Wes Bentley) -- Mephisto's archenemy and son, who's scheming to depose his pop. The supporting cast includes Eva Mendes, Sam Elliott and Donal Logue.
It wasn't as horrible as I had heard people say it was. There were a few points where it seemed like they were trying to add some scary movie scenes that just came off as really dumb. And I guess people who have flaming skulls for heads can't really have an extended vocabulary. He was pretty badass even though I usually think Nicholas Cage is pretty ho-hum as far as acting is concerned.
The Magdalene Sisters 2002 - This unflinching drama charts several years in the young lives of four "fallen women" who were rejected by their families and abandoned to the mercy of the Catholic Church in 1960s Ireland. While women's liberation sweeps the globe, these women are stripped of their liberty and dignity and condemned to indefinite servitude in The Magdalene Laundries, so that they may atone for their "sins."
Very disturbing, very depressing movie. This one goes on the list of sad depressing movies that I never want to watch again (along with Requiem for a Dream, Grave of the Fireflies, and Boys Don't Cry). The movie is based on true accounts of what went on in the "Magdalene Laundries." The last one was still open until 1996. They were started with the express goal of rehabilitating prostitutes according to the legend(?)/story(?) of Mary Magdalene. Then they disintegrated into working with any kind of "fallen" woman as they called them. In the movie there were four of them. Two of them had children out of wedlock (and one of them is low functioning), one was raped by her cousin, and one was "pretty" and flirted with some boys and they were all considered to have sinned and were taken from their families (or the orphanage in the case of the pretty girl) and sent to the laundry. They were treated horribly, disrespected, their children were taken away from them, one got to get a glimpse of her son through the gates every once in a while. *SPOILER ALERT* There is an appalling scene in the movie which starts out funny and then ends disgusting. One of the four girls realizes that one of the priests is engaging in sexual activities with one of the girls (the low-functioning girl, her name is Crispina)...so she puts something itchy in his laundry (it's either poison ivy or nettles, something like that). The next day they march through the streets of town and are in the middle of an outdoor sermon when you see the priest start getting itchy. He ends up stripping completely naked and yelling and dancing around like a mad man and you can see all the red itchy welts all over him. For a second you are like "yes! serves you right!" And then Crispina turns around to face the crowd (mostly other girls and nuns) and she pulls up her robe and you see all the red welts all over the inside of her legs. And she starts crying and saying it really hurts and she doesn't know why it's there and the nuns just tell her to be quiet. So she turns around and yells "You are not a man of God!" a lot (27 times apparently) and the scene ends. Soon after they commit Crispina to a Mental Hospital in order to cover up the priest's abuses. ugh.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 2006 - Lifelong friends and national idols Ricky Bobby ( Will Ferrell) and Cal Naughton Jr. ( John C. Reilly) have earned their NASCAR stripes with their uncanny knack of finishing races in the first and second slots, respectively. But when rival French driver Jean Girard ( Sacha Baron Cohen) coasts onto the track to challenge the duo, they'll have to floor it to retain their status as top dogs.
I wasn't really paying attention because I wasn't all that interested in seeing it. What I actually saw wasn't really that funny.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 - In the third and final installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker ( Hayden Christensen) and Padmé Amidala ( Natalie Portman) are married, and General Grievous leads the Confederacy in a battle against the Republic. Darth Sidious ( Ian McDiarmid) lures war-weary Anakin to the dark side, forcing Obi-Wan ( Ewan McGregor) to fight against his former pupil. Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits also star.
I finally got around to seeing this movie. I have to say it's my favorite out of the new trilogy but I'm still partial to the original movies. It's just weird to me that these are "prequels" but because of the advances of special effects technology the Jedi can have much more badass fighting skills. Then you go to the next episode and the Jedi aren't as badass because the movie was made so long ago. Luke Skywalker is still my favorite character. Oh! and Ewoks! I almost forgot about them.
*SPOILER ALERT*
1408 2007 - No one can explain the strange goings-on in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel. In this thriller based on a Stephen King story, writer and paranormal debunker Mike Enslin ( John Cusack) is determined to demystify the ghostly events, even though a hotel clerk ( Samuel L. Jackson ) begs him to rethink his plans. Mike needs to write another book soon, and room 1408 may be his ticket to the top of the best-seller list. But will he survive even one night?
I really enjoyed this one. I could have tolerated more scares but it had a good amount. I like creepy/scary movies that make you think about it instead of just having homicidal maniacs killing people for no reason. So the spoiler comment is that somewhere in the middle it seemed that the whole thing was a dream and I was getting really pissed...they let the "it's all a dream" thing go on for just a second longer than most before they went on with the movie.